Knocking on the Gate to Hell
by Insignificance
Summary: An accident brought the news of Ranma's inevitable death to Akane. Deep in the darkness, a young man struggles toward the light, the image of the one he loves. *NOT deathfic*


Knocking on the Gate to Hell  
Prologue: Death's Claim  
By: Silver Star  
  
  
It had been a pleasant day, one that the young Martial Artist named Ranma Saotome had enjoyed immensely. The sky was clear with nearly no clouds in sight. A light breeze drifted to him, carrying the fresh scent of the forest. The birds flitted through the branches of trees and chirped to a song only they knew.   
  
Ranma breathed in and felt a smile stretch across his lips. Finally, he could have some peace and quiet. He leaned back against the seat and looked out the window to watch the scene pass by in a blur. The train he sat on rumbled across the tracks; the sound was surprisingly soothing, making him want to go to sleep.   
  
A few days ago, his mother had suggested not so subtly if he want to live with her for a few days at her aunt's country house since it's the summer and he won't be missing any classes. He said yes, of course. He's not about to miss any opportunities to get to be with the mother that he hadn't seen for ten years. Besides, no one knows where his mother lives, except the Tendos, so none of his fiancees or rivals could find him. Best of all, no Genma to mess everything up.   
  
Ranma thought absently, almost unconsciously. He sat up straight and blinked. But no matter what he said, he still felt the empty void in his heart. Ranma sighed and leaned his head back to look at the ceiling of the train.   
  
He straightened again and stared resolutely out the window with a determined look in his eyes. With that, he cleared his mind of _everything_ and just stared out into the blurs. Several minutes later, he was found leaning back with his eyes closed, sleeping.   
  
He never did notice the black clouds that loomed ominously in the horizon.   
  
~ * * ~  
  
Ranma Saotome woke up to the screeching sound of the train's breaks, and piercing screams coming from all sides. He sat up, confused, only to find his clothes plastered to his body and the two unmistakable mounds of his female form. A peal of thunder crashed over head and rain poured through the window he had opened earlier, the source of the water that changed him to his cursed form.   
  
Screams sounded again. He looked around, thinking that the screams were because of his untimely change, but realized that no one was even looking in his direction. His question was answered a split second later as the train let out a piercing screech and lurched forward, throwing him against the seat in front of him.   
  
He was unhurt, but the same could not be said for every one on the train. His seatmate, a man in the mid-thirties, was clutching at his right arm; his face screwed up in pain. Ranma pushed away from the seat in front of him, and grabbed his seatmate's unhurt left shoulder. The man opened his eyes, and Ranma gestured at his injured right are.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ranma shouted so he could be heard above the screeching sound made by the train and the booms created by the thunder out side. The man closed his eyes again and shook his head. Ranma had ideas of what the injury was, but he had to check to make sure. He helped the man to sit upright, then tore away the right sleeve of the expensive dark gray suit. A few seconds later, his suspicion was confirmed.  
  
"Your arm is broken!" he shouted, but he wasn't sure if the man heard him or not. Ranma stood up to shout for help, only to see that more than half of the people in his car injured. He looked around worriedly but knowing that he can't help any of the people with their injuries right now. Something was wrong with the train, and he had to know what.  
  
Remembering the open window, he stuck his head out slightly, ignoring the blasting wind and rain, he looked toward the head of the train. He was lucky that he was sitting in a car that was near the head. It was hard to see pass the rain but is that...fire? His eyes widened and he quickly withdrew his head. The engine's on fire! He shut the window tightly against the wind and the hailing rain, then turned and got his seatmate to sit with his back against the corner of the seat, making sure not to jostle the man's broken arm.   
  
With that out of the way, he got out to the aisle and began to run toward the head of the train. He had to go through several other cars before his own, and he saw that nearly everyone have at least one injury. By the time he got to the second car to the engine room, the train was going at an incredible speed. This particular car had more than usual people in it, and Ranma realized that most of them came from the first car up front.   
  
He ran through it, ignoring the warnings from those who are not moaning in pain. The door to the first car burst open and the train driver and several others looked up in surprise to see a short busty red head running head long into the room.   
  
"What the hell is going on?!" Ranma shouted almost angrily as he saw the five men that were standing in the middle of the car, not doing anything.   
  
"The engine's on fire!" one of the men shouted back in reply.   
  
"I know that!" Ranma shouted again. "Why aren't you trying to put it o-" the train lurched forward again, cutting him off mid sentence.   
  
"We can't!" another one shouted after the train stopped lurching and everyone got to their feet. "The fire's too strong!"  
  
"We tried to disconnect the engine room to the section cars, but we can't! The connection had been melded together last year. We don't know why, but it is!" the train driver yelled. "That's why we got all the passengers from this section car to the next one, because we wanted to disconnect this along with the engine room!"  
  
At that moment, the door connected to the engine room blasted open and a hot stream of fire began to pour into the section car. Ranma cursed, realizing that it might be too late for the five men if they tried to disconnect the section cars. The fire was too quick, and it will be on them before they can do it.  
  
"Go!" Ranma shouted, grabbing the nearest man and making a beeline toward the door to the second section car. The rest of the men followed him, although they were confused as to what Ranma is about to do. He opened the door and herded all of the men through to the second section car.   
  
"What are you-"  
  
"Give me the wrench!" Ranma interrupted. "And give me a cup of hot water, tea, whatever!" The train driver handed the tool and his container of hot tea to Ranma, confused. Ranma emptied the hot tea and the transformation was instantaneous. The train driver's eyes widened in disbelieve.   
  
Ranma ignored the unasked question, grabbed the wrench, and pushed the men toward the door to the second section car. "Now, go! I'll be done in a minute!" The man didn't ask anything, but he nearly bolted. He did not go in, though; he stood in the doorway, watching Ranma work and waiting to grab him into the second section car when he was done.   
  
Ranma wasted no time and started to work. Sweat pour down in buckets as he used all his strength to loosen the bolt that connected the first and the second section car. It was rusted and Ranma cursed under his breath. He could feel the heat of the fire crawling toward him with unnatural speed. The dirt under the track suddenly disappeared and Ranma's eyes widened. The train is now on a bridge, and below, he could see the churning river. He brought his eyes back to the task at hand and forced himself to ignore the tremendous height. Finally, the bolt was out. Ranma stood up, relieved, and was about to go into the second section car with the train driver when the whole train lurched again because of the abrupt speed change.   
  
Ranma could feel his feet slipping, and with horror filled eyes, he began to fall. Everything was happening in slow motion to Ranma. He reached out, but couldn't reach the outstretched hand of the train driver. He could feel the wind blasting against his back, piercing his thin shirt. For a split second, he felt weightlessness, as if he was floating.   
  
And then, he was falling.  
  
~ * * ~  
  
Akane sighed as she walked down the stairs toward the family room. It's so quiet, now that Ranma's gone. Boring would be the word to describe everything. She had wanted to go with Ranma, but realizes and respect the fact that he hadn't seen her for ten years and he wants to get to know her better. She respect that because she knew if _her_ mom came back to life, she definitely doesn't want her "uncute" and "tomboy" fiancée there to mess everything up. But the knowledge didn't really make Akane feel better.  
  
"What, missing Ranma already?" Nabiki, who was watching TV, teased when she caught the bored and sort of wistful expression on Akane's face.   
  
"Who's missing that stupid jerk? I'm glad he's gone!" Akane retorted, more of reflex than truth in those words. Akane _is_ missing Ranma, but she'll _never_ admit that, especially not to Nabiki who'll probably offer the information for sell.   
  
"Whatever," Nabiki said, dismissing it. Akane breathed a sigh of relieve, glad that Nabiki had dropped the topic.  
  
The news came on at that moment, and silence fell between the two Tendo girls.   
  
*"Train Number 275 nearly crashed today in the out skirt of Tokyo. The engine had caught fire through reasons unknown. Interview with some of the crew showed that a young man, identity unknown, had managed to disconnect the engine room with the first section car from the rest of the train. Sadly, the young man fell from the train and into the Namako River. His body has not been recovered as of yet, but we have little hope of him surviving the two thousand meter drop."*  
  
Akane paled at the news. Ranma's train was the number 275.  
  
*"Over seventy five passengers had been injured, but there were none killed. However, one passenger was found missing, and we presume that the missing passenger was the young man who fell into the Namako River after helping the crew disconnect the train."*   
  
Akane wished that Ranma was somehow not on the train, but she knew otherwise. The Tendos had made sure that Ranma got onto the right train on time. she thought hopefully.   
  
The phone rang and both girls jumped. There was silence as Nabiki and Akane looked at each other. The phone rang again. They could hear Kasumi's soft footsteps, then a warm hello.   
  
"Auntie Nodoka! How nice of you to call!" they could hear Kasumi's cheerful voice. Akane paled, then assured herself that nothing was wrong. she told herself.  
  
Silence.   
  
Akane's heart dropped as the seconds passed. The click of the receiver as it fell back onto the cradle without the usual warm goodbye made Akane's heart sink even faster.   
  
Kasumi appeared at the doorway to the family room, but she was not smiling. Akane felt her heart stop.   
  
"They called Auntie Nodoka," Kasumi said, her voice calm, yet, no warmth at all. "They said that Ranma was missing."  
  
~ * * ~   
To be continued...  
~ * * ~   
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Despite the description of this story, this IS a Ranma/Akane fanfic, so all you Ranma/Akane lovers, don't worry. ^_^ This fanfic was inspired by Krista Perry's "Hearts of Ice" part 24 teaser where Ranma had to get to Emma-o, Lord of the Hells. It's also inspired by this one fic I've read, but I don't remember what it's called or where it is. It's where Ranma died, and Akane had to go to the underworld to bring him back. It was a really cool fic, but unfortunately, I don't remember where I read it. I certainly wouldn't mind putting the link in my link section.   
  
Send all suggestions, criticism, and comments to bailuli@hotmail.com All flames, though, will be pounded out by Achan. Hope you all look forward to the part one! ^_^  
  
Ryuuzaki no Arashi  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime/kei/ 


End file.
